Iowan will intern for Conan

ADEL, Iowa — When Chance Dorland, a 2005 graduate of Woodward-Granger High School and a senior at Emerson College in Boston, had a chance to broaden his life experience with a student exchange trip to Germany, he jumped at the opportunity.

But it was when he returned home for a brief visit nearly a year ago that he got the opportunity of a lifetime.

“I was back in Iowa in October for three days for my sister's wedding,” he said. “There was a guy there who went to school with her now-husband who wrote for Conan O'Brien when he was with the ‘Late Night' show in New York. We ended up becoming the comedians in the group.”

Dorland returned to Germany and did not think much more about it until he received an e-mail from the “Late Night” writer. Would Dorland be interested in an internship with the show?

He sent his résumé and a cover letter, which landed him an interview.

Then he got an official offer. “Once they complete the background check — my trip to Germany made that a little difficult — I'll be able to start.”

The year-long fellowship in the U.S. State Department's “Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals” was a blast, Dorland said. It also altered, somewhat, what he'd like to do with his life.

“I think I care more about not so much the politics but the way we do things here versus over there,” he said. “Oh, and the food is oh-so-much better over there. ... For the first couple of weeks after I got back, I just kept getting sick all the time.”

The impact of the change wasn't fully felt, however, until he had a chance to gain some advice from a professor at Emerson upon his return from Germany.

“He said, ‘Picture yourself at 50 to 60 years old, looking back on your life. Are you 50 or 60 and you've done just one thing your whole life, or was there a lot of variety?'” Dorland said. “Looking forward 20 to 30 years, I'd like to say I had a lot of scattered points on the map.”

Dorland shared his experience in Germany with Woodward-Granger students recently. He also spoke to students at Madrid, Ogden and Perry, Iowa. He encouraged them to travel abroad as part of their college education. He told them it doesn't take much to go overseas to learn.

Dorland will return for one final semester at Emerson College, but not in Boston. Instead, he will transfer to the Los Angeles campus, where he will intern for Conan O'Brien and the “Tonight Show.” He'll have a second internship with Adam Carolla's podcast and Greg Fitzsimmons' satellite radio program.

“Conan will be my 9-5 work, and Adam will be my nights and weekends,” Dorland said.

“In Germany, I was without the ability to work, and I really like to work,” he said. “So I have a lot of energy to let out. I'm going to enjoy it.”